


Know your worth

by FiKate



Category: 24, 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Milliways, Slither (2006)
Genre: Belonging, Education, F/M, Home, Perception, Prompt Fic, Self-Worth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-24 08:50:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiKate/pseuds/FiKate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Crys who requested: Bill Pardy-William Evans: <i>Measure of a Man</i>.</p><p>I kept thinking about how William, who has always defined himself in terms of his father, might find it odd to be a friend of Bill's and seen in those terms. On a visit to Wheelsy, William finds himself perceived in ways he never expected and it confuses him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Know your worth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sardonicynic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sardonicynic/gifts).



Kate woke up to the sound of someone in the kitchen, before she panicked too much, she recalled that William was visiting. Bill stirred in his sleep, his arm resting against her thigh, she smiled and kissed his cheek before getting out of bed. She grabbed her robe and slippers before heading down the stairs and following the light in the kitchen.

William was sitting at the kitchen table stirring a mug, “Hey, what are you doing up?” He looked up and shifted in his chair, “Just havin’ some hot chocolate. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t. I was wanting some tea,” She’s glad to see him relax and starts the kettle, pulling out a mug and tea bag before she asks, “How was today? You and Bill looked tired when you came in.”

“Oh, it was nice. The high school was bigger than I expected and everyone knew him.”

“They do, don’t they? Whenever I’ve gone to a football game, it can be hard to get a chance to sit as everyone wants to talk to him. He belongs to this town.”

“He does cause folks know him and trust him. I can see them wondering about me and being nicer than they should be,” As he talks he looks away from her and she’s aware that he’s still only seventeen with too much on his shoulders, the doubt is almost radiating off him.

The kettle whistles stirring her out of her thoughts and she moves to pour it before it wakes Bill, “People are nice in Wheelsy and welcoming. They’re probably not seeing anything that isn’t there.”

She doesn’t turn as she stirs honey into her tea, but is certain he’s looking at her, “When my family was traveling, I always liked figuring out who did someone look to for understanding us. Did they look at my father to set the tone or someone else in the family? How different is this from Milliways?”

For a long minute the only sound is her spoon against the side of the cup before he says, “All the teachers kept askin’ me where I was going next. They looked at me and saw someone who they thought worthwhile, but they don’t know me. I’ve never been good with new people, Milliways is odd. The normal rules don’t count.”

Kate didn’t know how to answer that and met Bill’s gaze as she cradled her tea, his smile was lopsided and uncertain. Neither of them spoke as William kept talking, airing his worries and doubts, “My Pa couldn’t do enough and he knew it, he felt himself failin’, I saw it. I didn’t help either, tellin’ him he wasn’t but he kept lovin’ me and us and tryin’. He didn’t need to have died. I just can’t let anyone down and everyone here, what they’re seein’ ain’t real. It’s who I might have been in another world that was kinder, not mine.”

“Will, your father trusted you. I trust you as does Kate, we don’t do that easily. The people of Wheelsy are just seeing you, that’s all,” Bill said gently as he didn’t want to spook William by letting him know he’d heard the conversation, “I think you’re a good man as does your father. Isn’t that enough?”

Kate watched William who looked to Bill, he seemed ready to cry or fall but just nodded as he sipped his cocoa. They would find a way to show him who he was and could be.


End file.
